NBA REWORKS DRAFT LOTTERY-IT’S WORSE NOW !

by | Apr 30, 2026 |

I did not like Algebra.

I did not understand Calculus

I would not do well with a Rubik’s Cube.

I know you need some kind of new math to figure out this NBA Lottery proposal.

It’s called the “3-2-1” Lottery, a plan to stop tanking, which has become an epidemic in the NBA.

They have had some form of the lottery since the mid-1980s, something they have upgraded-refined-tried to rework at least 4-different times.  Toss of the coin.  Ping Pong balls.  Team placards in Manila envelopes.

This was a season of disaster in the NBA.  Not just the injuries that plagued superstars and bad teams all year.  But it was a disaster too, for the woeful quality of play by 5-teams, all who cratered at the end of the season.

Bad teams, did even worse things from February on till the end of the season.  Ripped by injuries, they sat veterans.  They brought in street free agents, and played them over big money players.  The losses piled up.  Teams only looked towards next year and the lottery.

From February on, after the All Star break, the five worst teams in the league, had a combined won-loss percentage of (.181).  Think about that.

No one gave much thought to credibility, what teams owed the season ticket holders, or those Media rights partners.  Pretty shabby basketball.  Even worse decisions.

The standings the morning after the season ended:

..Washington (17-65)..Incompetence

..Indiana (19-63)..Wrecked by injuries

..Brooklyn (20-62)..Long rebuild

..Utah (22-60)..Horror show hurt players

..Sacramento (22-60)..History failure

So the NBA think tank has tried to come up with alternate plans to fix the lottery and to forbid teams from tanking, since fining them has done little to stop the pathetic play.

All types of ideas.  Give all 30-teams an equal chance of getting the top pick.  Stack the lottery only for the top 3-teams.  Just revert back the old school way of final standings.

Instead they come up with what is called the ‘3-2-1’ lottery plan.  The worst teams get the chance to get the top picks, but they get penalized for being so bad.  In fact the mid-level teams have a better chance at getting a Cam Boozer in June than the worst teams in the league.

Here’s the blueprint for the ‘3-2-1’ plan.

…3-worst teams get 2-ping pong balls

…7-other non playoff teams get 3-ping pong balls

…Play-In teams 9-10 get 2-ping pong balls

…Teams 7-8 that lose get 1-ping pong ball.

Also, if a team gets the #1 lottery pick, it is banned from getting it the next year.

And no team can get a top 5-pick three years in a row.

Solution?  No-lots of confusion?  Fairness-hell no.  Complications yes.

The NBA is trying to get everyone to play hard every night.  Fight for 4th place and get rewarded with more balls in the cannister.  How stupid.  Crazy, a team that makes a play-in game, could get the top pick, even if the Wizards-Jazz-Kings-Nets, their injury depleted rosters or incompetent leadership, need the choices to fix their franchise.

Algebra-Calculus-Rubik’s Cube….NBA lottery….all impossible for me to digest-figure out-rationalize..  The NBA-another turnover.

And You?  What do you think?

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